0Chapter Eight.

Leo didn't have any Mentats, and seemed to resent Moira's coming to him for her fix. As a result, she spent a fitful night tossing and turning in her bed, both needing her Mentats and worried about the nukes.

In the morning, Moira took her tools and the mini nuke, closed the shop, and headed to nearby Springvale. She cleared a spot on a rusted square platform, flanked on two sides by a mesh fence and junk.

It was early in the morning, and a chilly wind was blowing dust over Springvale. Moira wondered if Silver had returned to her shack, and decided she might check later depending on how much progress she made with the bomb. She considered taking the bomb inside one of the old buildings and working on it under cover, but the lighting would be bad and as long as she paid attention to her surroundings, nothing would sneak up on her.

The outer case came off easily, but once she was looking at the bomb's internal workings, her brow began to furrow. Moira knew her way around most conventional explosives, they were all quite simple, but the mini nuke had wires and parts she had never seen on a bomb before.

Even without her Mentat fix, Moira's mind was able to puzzle out what made the bomb tick. A conventional explosive forced uranium molecules together, causing them to split and release energy. She was so fascinated by how the bomb worked, she didn't notice the footsteps behind her until it was too late.

Something struck her on the back of the neck at the base of her skull and everything went black.

***

Her eyes opened and she could see someone's heels making tracks in the dust. She let out a moan, as her head hurt. The heels stopped.

"She's awake, she can walk," someone said.

She had been slung over someone's shoulder and was now lying on her back, looking up into the bright sun and three unfriendly faces. Each person was armed with an automatic rifle and wearing a grey uniform with a black armor plate.

"Get your ass up, or we'll cap you. You're not worth much more dead than you are alive," said one of the men. He had blond hair from what Moira could see, and it had been cropped short. Moira got to her feet with some difficulty; standing made her head spin.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"No questions," the blond said. "We're Talon Company and we'll shoot you just as soon as look at you. We're getting a bonus for you being delivered breathing, but if you make it not worth our while, you're dead. Understand?"

Moira had nearly soiled herself when she heard the words Talon Company, and nodded quickly, despite the dizziness.

"Walk," one of the Talons, a short one with a young face, said.

She did as she was told, wondering if a deathclaw wouldn't show up and save her again. She didn't think she would be as lucky in escaping it this time as she had been before and contented herself trying to stay on her captors' good sides.

It soon became clear they were approaching a large building. Most of the old world's skyscrapers were now part of the ruins, a but a few lone towers stood over the Wasteland as landmarks. Nearly every one of them was inhabited by something. Sometimes it was a group of people trying to make a living, but more often than not it was a band of raiders or mutants.

They led her around to the front of the tower, which was surrounded by a cement wall. At the top of a short flight of stairs was the front door with an intercom box next to it. The blond Talon mercenary pushed the button. "Talon Company, open the damned door."

The door large door unlocked and the Talon leader kicked the door open. Inside the courtyard was a number of armed men wearing tan body armor. All looked similar to the ones who had captured her, but Moira thought they all looked nervous, whereas her direct captors had looks of disdain on their faces.

The only man sitting was one of the men in tan uniforms. He had short black hair cut like the Talons but his skin was a dark olive color. He sat behind a reception desk just beyond two square pillars. Behind him was an elevator flanked by two sets of stairs leading up to a second level.

Next to the man on her side of the desk was Mr. Burke.

"So good of you drop by, Ms. Brown," he said. "Welcome to Tenpenny Tower."

The man behind the desk crossed his arms and looked at Moira as though she were some kind of mutant radscorpion some children had dragged in. "Tenpenny didn't say anything about this to me," he said.

"Perhaps Mr. Tenpenny decided to keep you out of the loop," Mr. Burke said. "I trust her arrangements have been…"

"Where," said the blond Talon mercenary who was standing uncomfortably close to Moira. "Is. Our. Fucking. Money?"

Moira wasn't a combat expert, but she questioned the wisdom of being rude to a gang of armed men who had you surrounded.

"Ah yes, you're money," said Mr. Burke. He picked up a briefcase that had been sitting next to the reception desk and held it up. "You've brought her uninjured, as requested, so you're bonus is inside."

Moira seemed to remember the mercenary telling her the deal had been dead or alive, and definitely recalled being injured. I'll bring it up later, she thought. I'd hate for anyone to get shortchanged.

The mercenary shoved Moira forward, hard, making her stumble. She was on her hands and knees when the briefcase flew through the air, and was caught by the Talon leader.

Moira heard him begin to fumble with the lock, and noticed two things from Mr. Burke. One, he had something in his left hand. It was small and black with a bit of red. A detonator, she thought, having seen enough of them to know. The other thing she noticed was the look on his face, as though some part of his schemes had gone drastically wrong.

"Don't count it here, you ass," he said.

"Why the fuck not?" said the Talon leader. "Damn thing won't open."

She heard weapons being readied, first by the two Talons then the Tenpenny Tower guards.

Mr. Burke took a few steps forward and yanked Moira by the hair. "Ow!" she said, standing up. He shoved her into the reception desk and grabbed at her feet. Moira didn't know why he was trying to shove her over the desk, but decided to help him out.

As she went over, guns began going off. She couldn't see who was shooting, but assumed it was everyone. She covered her head and was nearly stepped on by the man who had been sitting behind the desk. He was now crouched behind it and shooting.

Once again, Moira acknowledged to herself she was no battle expert, but for a three-on-twelve gunfight, it sure was going on a long time. Maybe the Talon Company is as tough as everyone says, she thought. As wood chips rained down on her legs, she wondered if adding the Talon Company to the survival guide would date it too much.

Suddenly the world was nothing but sound and a powerful vibration, loud and furious, threatening to destroy her eardrums forever. She covered them and gritted her teeth in pain, waiting for the ringing to stop.

The tower guard that had been crouched next to her was shaking his head as well. He remained crouched for a time, and stood up. From his posture, Moira could tell whatever had blown up had also ended the battle.

"…up…" she heard.

"I…up…" the guard was moving his mouth at her, but she couldn't hear him over the ringing.

"Get up, now," he said, still muffled.

She stood and turned to look at the lobby. There was no sign of the Talon leader, assuming the boot next to one of the damaged pillars didn't also have his foot still in it. the bomb had blacked the walls and taken a layer of concrete off the pillars. The only intact bodies were the ones of tower guards who had been shot first before the bomb went off. The bodies of the Talons were hard to pick out, having been scattered.

Not everyone was dead. A few tower guards were moaning, while one held his leg in his hands, examining it calmly.

"Fuck," the former sitting guard said. "I'm going to go get a doctor, stay here."

"I'm a doctor," Moira said. An okay one, anyway, she thought. She was no Doc Church, but at least her bedside manner was much nicer.

"Then start doctoring," he said. "And shoot that asshole Burke if you see him."

She didn't see him, which was good because she didn't feel like shooting anyone. Looking around at the carnage, she tried to pick who she might be able to help the most and decided on a man holding his stomach.

To be continued…